cook your own

It's the dry season here in Darwin and that means lots of fun things going on outside. Last night we went to a fundraiser at the Deckchair Cinema for the NT Environment Centre. They were showing the very feel-good movie about British allotment gardens, "Grow Your Own."

Since it was a fundraiser, the cinema's usual food service was displaced by locals making dishes for sale, much of which was local and some even grown by the cooks themselves. Unfortunately, the food took second place to the desire to raise funds and they sold us tickets for meals even after the good stuff was gone. We weren't late but there were heaps there before us (since it was our first time, we didn't have the inside scoop of these obvious veterans). So we missed central desert camel and Mary River barramundi ("barra" here - so if you're visiting you can slip in the local lingo). We had one plate between two of wet rice and runny lentils...but all in good fun. The movie was good and the cause worth supporting.

It was a good excuse to make popcorn when we got home...

take me away from take away

Why do I keep trying it? Take away food, I mean. I get to feeling hungry, can't remember if there's anything at the house, don't feel like going to the store...and boom, there I am with a pile of pseudo food wondering why I've done it to myself again. Maybe it's only once a month, but my body doesn't seem to recover between episodes...

Strategy idea: cook something kind of like junk food and put it in the freezer - and remember that it's there next time the urge strikes to do the dirty deed.

Meanwhile, what am I going to do with those fish and chips swimming around in my arteries?

red whine

I shouldn't be whining (or whinging as they say in my other home town of London).

I've got chocolate and red wine. What's to complain about?

That there is no hot tub to slip into with this glass of red.
That the chocolate is finished but I'm not.
That another day of eating has ended and I made no discoveries!

That's not true - on daily headspa today we posted a video of some gorgeous little Finnish fellows making sticky buns. It's so good it bears repeating. Haven't tried to the recipe but discovering these boys and their joy of cooking is splendid!

wintry delights

Somewhere south of us, much further south of us, the forecast is for snow. Here in the tropics, we're in the midst of the dry season which has a certain autumnal quality to it. And while it isn't cool by any stretch of the imagination, if you work up a good sweat and then sit under a fan in your wet tennis clothes...you can almost feel a shiver coming on with the night.

So tonight we indulged the cooler clime appetites with a potato bake.

Red bliss potatoes sliced very thin.
Cream and milk (2 thirds/1 third respectively)
olive oil to cook 1 minced onion and 2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tablespoons of flour
a bit of salami
cheese
salt
pepper

Heat the oven to 200C.
Sweat the onion and garlic in the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the flour to coat. Stir in the milk and cream. Add the potatoes, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil.
Layer in a baking dish with cheese and salami, finishing with a nice layer of cheese.
Bake for 45 minutes or until bubbling and browned; the potatoes nice and soft.
Let it rest before you dig in for best flavour and texture.

Snuggle up in your tank top and shorts on the rattan couch with a cold beer and tuck in!

do 2 smalls make a large?

I am suddenly a fan of the piccolo latte. Something more than a macchiato, less than a latte. Coffee Snobs can tell you what I'm talking about.

I do feel a bit of a coffee snob ordering these, but they are just perfect.

I had two today, the second was better but the first came with a "buy 5 get one free" stamp. But if it wasn't as good, should I complete the card or spend my hard-earned for the good stuff?

These are the questions that try my soul, at least when I'm a little speedy from two smalls that make at least a medium when I shouldn't have any at all!


thanks to the abstract gourmet for this flickr shot.

note to self: no cheese and tennis

Okay, so I found out today that Triple Cream Brie (a lot of), bagel chips, and chocolate pastilles do not mix well with tennis...It was a quantity problem (too much tennis or too much cheese?)